Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Really apt title! It's technically a rom-com, I guess, but since the characters are older, it's not the typical looking-for-happy-ever-after cliche. Meryl Streep looks great for her age, btw...even my boyfriend said so (I love that my 30-year-old guy can look at a much older woman and not just think eww, old). There are a lot of laughs, but it also sets you thinking about how people aren't necessarily done with other people just because the relationship ended, how you change or grow as you get older, and how it's okay to be single-and-together instead of coupled-but-still-messed-up.

The best part, to me, is that you don't know if Meryl Streep's character will end up with one of the two guys, or neither, until the very end....and even then, there's a little ambiguity. I loved that a rom-com script didn't have you knowing how it would end by the second act. Romance book writers often want to put a little more reality in a story, so it was really nice to see that here, that life wasn't going to be wrapped in a pretty little bow for her.

On an aesthetic note, the food in the movie always sounds/looks amazing (MS's character has a bakery/cafe), and the house is gorgeous. I'm pretty sure it's set in the Santa Barbara area from the overhead shot of the town, and the MC has this huge property with a great open house and a garden and a view of the ocean. It's ideal California living, and I WANT.

Oh, and I'd never seen a movie with Meryl Streep where her character laughs so much. It was delightful, she lit up.